PACE recognizes Russia wages war against Ukraine, occupies Donbas

On 24 April, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted to recognise parts of the Ukrainian Donbas region as being „under the effective control of the Russian authorities”, instead of the previously used formula of "government-controlled and non-government-controlled territories" (resolution 2209/2018). On 25 April, PACE adopted an amendment proposed by Ukraine which replaces the so far used designation of „war in Ukraine” with the wording „Russian war against Ukraine" (doc. 14527/2018).

On the same occasion, PACE called upon Russia to cease sending weapons, ammunition and fighters in Eastern Ukraine and adopted a resolution on countering the Russian propaganda which recommends European countries to set up watchdogs monitoring the spread of Russian disinformation and fake news. The adopted designations mark a firmer stance adopted by PACE, unmasking the Russian aggression by renouncing a terminology intrinsic to the pro-Kremlin discourse implying that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is, in fact, a civil war in which Moscow plays no role.